More that a third of EU election participants signed a pledge on climate change policy
80 candidates from the European Parliament, which a little more than one third of those participating in the European Parliament (EP) elections, signed a pledge on climate change policy. This campaign was organized by an NGO which called on politicians to speak out for both the Lithuanian and global people’s rights to a safe climate. Some of the most actively involved in the campaign included members from the Lithuanian Green Party and the Lithuanian Farmers Union. More information about the signed pledges from politicians in Lithuania can be found here.
“This campaign lasted almost 2 months. One can expect from the sheer number of candidate signatories from this campaign that these politicians will lead the parties in dominating the agenda of environmental ideas. It is so gratifying that candidates representing other parties rather actively joined this campaign. We believe that the desire to participate in this campaign was due not only to party interests but also personal and political values. However, we hope for even more political support for our ideas, because for some reason or another it could not be promised to us from certain individuals,” said one of the campaign coordinators, “DVI Sustainable Development Initiatives” Director Inga Ringailaite. She said that the pledge is a personal commitment from politicians to support ambitious climate change mitigation polices like reducing greenhouse gas emission and promoting renewable energy and energy efficiency.
NGOs believe that this pledge allows us to know what to expect from politicians on decisions regarding climate change. These are not just empty declarations; the NGO is going to follow the pledge signers who are voted into Parliament next session very closely.
Often climate change mitigation is confined solely to the necessary investment measures and financial impacts, and assessment of which of these measures will work or not work. In these discussions often the most important aspects are left out—climate change is not just an environmental problem, it affects our economical and geopolitical processes as well as each of our daily lives. If we do not install mitigation measures, the harm to humanity climate change will cause will cost far more than our current efforts can provide. Climate change stabilization is one of the biggest challenges facing the European Union, which is one of the world’s most important climate change policy players. Thus, the European Parliament is especially important in shaping the climate change conversation and politics. By standing by this campaign, Lithuanian politicians have demonstrated that they are aware of the importance and extent of the problem and that they do not intend to ignore it, as more and more of the Lithuanian population becomes concerned with climate change: In 2013, the Eurobarometer survey showed that 50% of the EU and 41% of Lithuania’s population believe that climate change is one of the most important global issues. Lithuanians who were interviewed also felt that it was important to identify renewable energy (89% of the respondents) and energy efficiency (91% of the respondents) targets.
This climate change pledge campaign is taking place all over the European Union. To follow the progress of the campaign, information is available on the Climate Action Network Europe web-page. The NGO acts as a network to connect more than one hundred and twenty organizations working in the field of climate change across Europe. The campaign is supported by nine Lithuanian NGOs and was coordinated by “DVI Sustainable Development Initiatives” and the Baltic Environmental Forum in Lithuania.
Find out what Lithuanian political parties in the EP election program saying about climate change.
More information:
Inga Ringailaitė, DVI Darnaus vystymo iniciatyvos, tel: +370 686 60050, email: inga[at]dvi[dot]lt;
Gintarė Jonušauskaitė, Baltic Environmental Forum Lithuania, tel: +370 643 23131, email: gintare.jonusauskaite[at]bef[dot]lt.
This campaign in Lithuanian is supported by the following NGOs:
